!ONE SHOT!

This scene is in the actual universe, Series 2, sometime after Idiot's Lantern

FYI: I do not own Doctor Who, unfortunately.

*** Brilliant Thoughts

It's too hard to sleep. Even in the comfy jim-jams he had kept from Christmas time at the Tyler's house. Can't sit still, can't stop thinking. As a Time Lord, he could consistently keep up with twenty seven different trains of thought. As a Time Lord, he hardly ever needed sleep, even though he was exhausted by his latest adventure with Rose Tyler.

Rose.

The one thing that he sit still around, the one person he can't stop thinking about. He still hadn't taken her to that Ian Dury concert he had promised. And he had yet to take her on to that Elvis Presley trip that he had wanted to surprise her with. Them crashing in on the Ed Sullivan show, how grand it would have been!

He had tried that once and where did they end up? London England! 1950's England, on Coronation Day of all days! Oh it would have brilliant if he had actually planned on it! Oh 1953, brilliant year! Classic, even! Technicolor invented! Everest climbed! Everything off the ration! And absolutely brilliant! But of course, something had to be wrong with where they landed. There were TV's in nearly every house on the block, even though they were brand new and typically pretty pricey.

But here a Mr. Magpie had been selling them as if they were second-hand tin cans. Well…they might as well have been, cos the entire network of Magpie televisions was infested. Infested with her. The Wire. Ordinary innocent people were having their brains wiped clean and their faces stolen, all because of her. All because they were watching their brand-new, cheap televisions.

The Wire was everywhere, spreading all over North London, so many people basically turned into defenseless vegetables. And Rose was one of them. The very thought of it set the Doctor's blood on fire. He couldn'ttake it anymore. Leaping out of bed he started pacing his bedroom, his own memories torturing him.

Rose.

They left her there; in the middle of the street. Helpless. Defenseless.

They took her mind away and then abandoned her to die in the middle of a bloody square!

Every nerve, every muscle, every vein in the Doctor's body, was burning with rage. In the street. The Wire and Magpie, they left her in the street. They took her face and just chucked her out and left her in the middle of an empty street in the middle of the night. There was nothing the Doctor wanted than to just punch something. Break something. Do something.

Nothing. Nothing has made him as irrationally angry as she did. The mere thought of Rose Tyler being in danger, it drove him up the wall. He swore that if Rose's life were ever threatened, there would be nothing that could stop him from destroying them. She would never be in danger then, and he could never lose her. He didn't even want to think about what would happen to him if he lost her.

She was everything to him. Her and the TARDIS, they were his world now. Ever since the Time Lords had disappeared, they had been his lifeline. The TARDIS was his home, she had been his own for more than 700 years. But Rose, she was his heart. His other half. He—

He believed in her.

He trusted her more than anyone he had ever known. Besides his own family. And they were all long gone now. It has been so long, since the Doctor had felt such deep feelings for anyone. Hope, faith, devotion…love? No. He wasn't that far gone yet. But he was close, and so was the conflict that came with it. There have been so many moments with her, some were beyond description, but they were all times when—he just wanted to tell her.

He just wanted to tell her exactly how and what he felt for her, right in that moment. He wondered what she would say to him if he did. Would she share the sentiment? Ever? Being a human with pheromones, most of the time her emotions were easy to read. But not all the time. And that was what scared him. Even if he did confess how he felt, there was no telling how she would react.

No matter how long or how well they knew each other. She could feel the same, she could accept it, but not quite feel as he did (which would be considerably harder to deal with), or, he could just open his big fat mouth and ruin everything that that had. That would be the worst. And it was exactly what the Doctor was afraid of. Everything that could ever possibly go wrong.

The only thing that would be worse that Rose dying and losing her that way, would be him confessing his feelings, spoiling their friendship, and making her fell like she had to get away from him. Losing her that way would just hurt, it would kill him. From the inside out.

At that moment, the bedroom door opens; revealing a half-asleep, bed-headed, Rose Tyler.

"Rose." The Doctor realized, rushing to her side, touching her gently on the shoulders in concern. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

Rose yawns. "I was just about to ask you the same thing." She said, rubbing her eyes.

The Doctor was slightly confused. "What'd ya mean?"

"I could hear you pacing, Doctor. My room is right below yours. What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing really." The Doctor shrugged, stepping back and rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Just…thinking."

"What about?"

"…You."

Rose froze stiff. "Me?" she squeaked, her voice sounding constricted. "Really?"

"Yea…" The Doctor admitted sheepishly.

For a moment, Rose Tyler was puzzled. Then she grinned. "Were you worrying about me, Doctor?" she asked, mischievously.

"Well…indirectly, yes." The Doctor half lied. "Why are you smiling?"

Rose walked straight into him and gave him a hug. "Because it's sweet of you to worry about me." She replied. Then she looked up at him. "How can you indirectly worry about someone?"

"Oh, it's easy! Too easy, mind you. But if you want to learn it I could probably teach ya." The Doctor joked with a smile. Rose smiled back.

"Oh very funny, Doctor." She smiled, wrapping him back up in her arms. She let out a breath, loving the smell of him in his cotton pajamas. "Why were you worrying about me?"

"Cos it's part of my job." The Doctor lied. "God knows your mother would kill me if I didn't bring you home in one piece. Worrying helps me make sure you stay in one piece."

Rose laughed a little at that. "Yea, I guess that's true." She conceded. "But we joke about that all the time. So it couldn't be the threat of my mum that's got you all worked up like this."

"Ah, you are clever one there, Rose Tyler." The Doctor sighed with a smile. "Too clever for your own good, I say."

Rose smiled smugly at him. "Your welcome."

The Doctor just laughed. Rose laughed with him a little.

"But seriously though," She said, putting a hand to his chest, stopping the Doctor immediately. "What's going on here Doctor? And be honest, no more demeaning your problems, you know that doesn't work with me around." She insisted.

The Doctor managed a tired smile, finally beginning to show his nine hundred years of age. "And it never has." He said.

Rose offered him a small smile at that. "Now. What is it that's got you pacin' so much?"

The Doctor swallowed. "Well…I've just been…thinking, a lot lately." He said slowly.

Rose smiled and nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"I've been thinking about you and me, and all those crazy adventures we've ever gone on together." He told her.

They both smiled and chuckled at their best memories.

"I've been thinking how great we've been together, cos we are! We're fantastic! I mean, look at what we've been through; reapers and werewolves and reality TV shows and the Sycorax and the Slitheen and the Daleks and the Wire and…"The Doctor faltered at that.

Rose caught on quickly. "The Wire…"

"Yea."

"Back in 1953 when I…"

"Almost died, yea. Practically lobotomized, you were."

That was when she realized what the Doctor was feeling. "Oh my God, Doctor!" She gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck in seconds. He wrapped his arms around her waist and let out a sigh of relief. "My God, Doctor!" she whispered. "I am so sorry."

"Hey," the Doctor scolded weakly. "That's my line."

Rose sighed, trying to force a laugh, but it didn't really last. "Doctor…"

"Shh…"The Doctor soothed quietly. "I know, I'm sorry."

Another breath in. A few moments of silence. Then Rose spoke up. "Better?"

"Yea."

Rose slowly slid out of his embrace, but still holding him by the arms as she looked up at him. "You can see me, right?"

"Yea…" The Doctor replied, slightly confused by the change.

"Can you hear my heart and lungs workin', yea?"

"…Yea…" The Doctor replied, still confused.

"So you know that…I'm okay, right?"

A smile started to tug at the corner of his mouth. "Yea." The Doctor said, smiling when he finally understood Rose's point.

"Brilliant." She grinned. "Now you," she said poking him in the chest. "Get yourself a good night's sleep, ye hear? Cos I'm making sure we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, alright?"

The Doctor grinned. "Aye-aye Captain!"

Rose's smile only grew. "Good." She threw her arms around him in one last hug. The she pulled away and took his hands. "I'll see you in the morning, K?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright." The Doctor smiled. "Good night, Rose Tyler."

"Good night, Doctor." Rose smiled kindly, pulling away so to walk to her own bedroom. But just as she took one glance back, she turned just in time to see him wink from the crack in his door before disappearing behind it. Silly old git. She chuckled to herself affectionately. He thinks he's such a flirt.